


Coffee, Decaf

by sleepymarvel



Series: HOA One-Shots [2]
Category: House of Anubis
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Missing Scene, Season/Series 01, rufus being a manipulative bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepymarvel/pseuds/sleepymarvel
Summary: Nobody had ever called her smart before. She’d been called a bitch, a troublemaker occasionally, suicidally brave once, there was the time Jerome called her a scheming pixie and she thought that was pretty funny, but nobody had ever told her she was smart.
Series: HOA One-Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1755970
Kudos: 8





	Coffee, Decaf

Rufus’ car was warm, even though he was parked in the shade of brown and orange leaves, and Patricia was glad to get out of the wind and chilly fall weather. She was in her school uniform, uniform jacket actually buttoned up over her white polo shirt and tie actually straightened for once, and she had a beanie pulled down over red hair to keep warm. 

Patricia had texted Rufus that morning to meet up. She wanted to do more investigating on Joy’s disappearance and she needed an excuse to skip school. Rufus was a good excuse. He was intense, but she was positive he was harmless. He didn’t think she was crazy either, so that was a plus, and they were totally on the same page about Joy.

The car was stalled in an empty clearing, a bit of a walk from Anubis House, and rays of early morning sun blanketed the tops of the trees in the neighboring woods. Shadows fell around her, big and leaf shaped, and Patricia didn’t think twice as she climbed into the passenger seat of the devil's car. 

Rufus must’ve been waiting there for a while, because the heater was on high and his fingers were tapping impatiently, almost rhythmically, on the steering wheel. He glanced into the rear-view mirror, checking to make sure nobody had followed her. Patricia rolled her eyes. It was amazing how Rufus managed to be so paranoid and dramatic all the time. Speaking of dramatic, the fact that he wanted her to use his fake name was totally loony. Patricia would never call him Renee when she didn't have to, it was just too weird. 

“Hey, I brought you something.” Patricia said, pulling her school bag into her lap and beginning to dig through it. She glanced up at Rufus, he was interested now, but he continued to glance nervously behind him down the empty road. His eyes were piercing blue, his half smile forced and fake, mind preoccupied with the thoughts of eternal life. 

Patricia had a bad feeling, settling in her gut and making her uneasy, but she pushed that feeling aside. It was probably just concern for Joy spilling over. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. She instead stared up at the ceiling in her dorm room and pictured Joy, alone and scared, kidnapped by Victor and the teachers. Mara had been awake too, talking to her about Mick related drama. That didn't help in the actually getting sleep department either. Joy had always been better than she was at relationship advice. Patricia really missed her best friend. 

The first thing Patricia thought of when she woke up that morning, eyes snapping open before her alarm, was how she needed to catch up with Rufus. He was a Private Investigator, after all, even though he seemed to rely more on her help than anything else; maybe he found something new on Joy. Patricia craved information on Joy's case more than anything. Sometimes she couldn't even focus in class. She'd stare at Ms. Andrews and she'd replay Joy's last day in class over and over again in her head. If Rufus found out anything new, it would help. 

“You weren’t followed, were you?” Rufus asked in way of greeting, eyes snapping over to where she sat beside him in the car. His tapping on the steering wheel increased in speed. His nervousness could’ve been read as agitation, but Patricia didn’t seem to notice.

She shrugged off his question, gave him a look that said _seriously_ , and went back to digging in her school bag. She had two thermoses of coffee buried somewhere in there. Coffee helped with thinking, even if Rufus drank decaf, which Patricia personally thought was disgusting. 

_“You drink decaf, Trixie?” Jerome asked that morning, incredulously, as if it was the worst thing in the world. Both him and Alfie had been up uncharacteristically early, which usually meant trouble, and they were sitting at the table talking amongst themselves. Alfie burst out laughing at Jerome’s comment, almost choking on his orange juice._

_The death glare Patricia had directed at them shut them both up. Alfie tried to mask his laugh with a cough. Jerome backtracked on his statement immediately._

_“Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Jerome corrected hastily, his hands raised in mock surrender. It was not a good idea to get Patricia upset around hot drinks. Jerome shuddered at the thought._

“Patricia –” Rufus pressed, his tone serious, waiting for her answer, "It's important that nobody knows you're here. It could be disastrous for Joy." He had to be careful how he spoke to her. She needed to trust him. He was just a Private Investigator in her eyes. He couldn’t act too suspicious. Right now, Patricia was his only link to the house. His only link to eternity.

It didn’t help that his patience was short.

“Chill for a moment, yeah?” Patricia said, finally finding what she was looking for in her bag. She pulled out a black thermos and held it out to him. “Here.”

Rufus didn’t budge. He eyed the thermos suspiciously. Unless Patricia had the spirit of Tutankhamun trapped in there, he was pretty sure it was worthless to him. 

“It’s not poison, okay.” Patricia said sarcastically, sensing his apprehension. It was just like Rufus to be suspicious over something as simple as coffee. “It's coffee. And before you say anything, I know you’re a freak and actually _like_ decaf, so don’t worry.”

This was interesting. Rufus may have thought of Patricia as only a means to an end in his quest for immortality, but there was something about the fact that she brought him coffee. He liked that he had her trust. He’d convinced Patricia to see him as a friend, even though she tries to mask it with a good bit of sarcasm, and he can work with that. 

She’d brought him coffee. She’d bring him the Chosen One. Eventually, Rufus would be immortal.

“Thanks.” Rufus said and Patricia smiled. Then in the same breath, “Do you have it for me? The Eye of Horus?”

Patricia wasn’t too clear on how the weird Egyptian hieroglyphics fit into her Joy situation yet, but Rufus had insisted countless times that it was all connected; if it somehow helped her get to the bottom of what happened to Joy, Patricia was all for it.

“Not yet. I’m working on it.” Patricia said shortly, she pressed the palms of her hands against the heater. It was so cold outside and the heater in Rufus' car was so nice. The moment she looked away from him, his jaw set in frustration. Then, “I actually thought I could hang here a while. The teachers creep me out. Ever since I started asking about Joy, they'll see me and get this freaky dead look behind their eyes. It’s because they know I’m onto them, isn't it?”

“That’s very possible. You’re a smart girl. I’m sure they’ve caught onto that.” Rufus checks his mirrors again. He can’t have her stay here with him too long. If anybody sees them, he’d be ruined. Rufus can’t let Victor find out he’s talking with the students. That damn old man would get the upper hand on him. “But you can’t stay here."

Something flashed in Patricia’s eyes. Nobody had ever called her smart before. She’d been called a bitch, a troublemaker occasionally, suicidally brave once, there was the time Jerome called her a scheming pixie and she thought that was pretty funny, but nobody had ever told her she was smart. In a weird way, it actually made her feel good about herself.

“Yeah, whatever.” Patricia shrugged like she didn’t care, but she kind of did, “I’ll just sneak back into the house. I’ll text you when I figure out how to get the Eye of Horus thing.” She paused, halfway out of the car then, "It will definitely help us find Joy, right Rufus?"

"I'm sure of it. This is the clue that we've been waiting for." _This is what I have been waiting for for almost one hundred years. Somebody will die and I will live forever. Like a god among mortals._

Patricia stepped out of the car, headed back down the wooded street towards the school, and she thought that Rufus and her made a pretty good team. She was sure she'd get Joy back now. She glanced back when she reached the end of the street. The car was gone, leaving behind a light trail of oil. She'd have to remember to let him know so he could get it fixed. 

In the next few years, when Patricia’s nightmares about Rufus got really bad, the worst of them were memories of when she thought he was her friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> So Patricia clearly trusted Rufus a lot in the beginning of season one. She trusted him enough to not only break him out of the hospital but I also remember a quote where after the school play when they were worried about Joy and someone asked Patricia what if Victor caught Rufus and Patricia said "that would be just as bad. I might start taking this personally." She clearly thought of Rufus as a friend and that made it worse when he ended up kidnapping her because he had made her feel like he was the only one really on her side and then he betrayed that trust. Rufus is such an asshole and I hope I wrote him okay. I'm really worried about my characterization here. Patricia and Rufus are both complex and I didn't want to screw them up. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you liked this and I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading! ♡


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